Chinese New Year

Our yearly Chinese New Year family dinner was another enjoyable time. We tried a new place this year, and although it was nice, I think we are going to go try and find a new spot for next year.
Here's a few pics from the day....

We have a new family member....

We are happy to announce the newest addition to the Hing Family. Jerry Garcia Hing. He was born December 7, 2009 and is a Lab/Mix. They don't know who his Daddy is...
He is such a sweet boy. We got him this afternoon and he is adjusting well to his new home. Allyson is the happiest I have ever seen her and Patrick loves him too. He is just constantly saying "Jerry! Come 'ere Jerry"

Toddler Intervention

**UPDATE!!**
Well, Pat's getting MUCH better now. He knows that the pacy is only allowed in his bed and really doesn't ask for it as much anymore. When he wakes up, he just puts it down and doesn't fight us for it. It's gotten so much better. Thank God!!!!


I would really like to know what they make pacifiers out of....crack perhaps? My sweet boy has turned into a crazy man as we are trying to rid him of the pacy habit. Over the weekend we told him the only place he could have it was in his bed. He did really well without it all day, but as soon as he got tired, he was screaming for it. We didn't give in...he went to bed and got his fix.
Well last night he woke up screaming in the middle of the night "I NEED IT!" And when we woke up this morning that's all he kept crying as Ron was getting him ready for school. "I need it" "I need my pacy"
I really think they should make a show called Toddler Intervention. Help parents like us trying to get their kids "clean".

February Blizzard (round one....)

Well this weekend (as most of you know) was a nice sized blizzard. I'd say we got around 18 inches. I handled it all quite well considering we had to cancel our date for Saturday night. We had tickets to see Hair, but thankfully they let us change them to a different night. Ron was able to get Ally to the city to spend the night with Becky as planned, though. Allyson had a GREAT time at the Night at the Museum. (Thanks, Becky!!) So while Patrick and I were waiting for Daddy to get home, we played outside for a little while. (Pics below) He was basically just throwing snow at me and cracking up. I started getting him back, though....

We are supposed to get a significant amount of snow again Tuesday night into Wednesday, so looks like a snow day is in my future! YAY!

January in a Nutshell

Since I was a little slack this month, I decided to just lump most of our January happenings into one post.
We started off the month with Allyson's "friend" party for her birthday. 12 screaming 12 year olds in the house with just me holding down the fort. We sent Ron and Patrick to Chuck E Cheese since it was a "Girl's Only" party. We did a Hollywood themed party with a red carpet down the driveway complete with a spotlight; stars, stars, and more stars all over the house. Gold and silver fringe everywhere, and of course, star-shaped balloons and cupcakes. We had plastic wine glasses and food for a Hollywood cocktail party. The girls had fun playing pictionary, guess your celebrity, and decorating their own pocketbooks. As well as singing loudly to all the songs I had never heard. The big excitement of the night seemed to be our earth-friendly toilet that has a push button instead of a handle to flush. They all gathered in there to admire it. Thankfully 10pm came rather quickly.

Basketball season is just about over. The last game is Saturday. And even though this was a hand-picked team that she had to try out for, they were not coached very well and ended the season with 2 wins. (out of a lot of games) Allyson played hard. I found myself getting excited when they would call a foul on her. Finally seeing her put all of herself into the game and getting more hands-on was great! And hey, if she threw a girl or 2 down to the ground in the process...well, that was just a bonus. She really has the ability to be a great basketball player, so we are looking forward to the next season and we're hoping for a new coach (hopefully it will be Ron). I posted some basketball pics below; including one of Patrick helping out during the warm up. He loves the ladies)

January also brought the beginning of potty training with Patrick. He seemed like he was really into it and all he kept saying was "I get a biiiiiiig prize." (Yes, we started off with bribery. Why even waste time with other tactics. We know our son. Bribe him with big gifts...he'll do it. So we are hoping that perhaps February...or March will bring the big day. (as well as the expensive trip to Toys R Us that will follow)We just bought the Peter Potty urinal that is absolutely hysterical. I think it just might do the trick. He's really into it! He hasn't actually gone yet, but he's trying. Fingers crossed everybody!

Ron and I have nothing really exciting to report. We got a new car (Honda Pilot)...got 2 nice date nights out of the month, and still share our bi-weekly grocery shopping date since Allyson would rather make $10 by staying home and watching Patrick then step foot in the grocery store with us. We also got Rock Band for the Wii and I will admit...I'm addicted. I have truly started to believe that I could actually be a real drummer.